Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Kinsen-ji Temple Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when Kinsen-ji Temple was founded.  It is said to have been a large temple with 7 halls during the Warring States Period (1467-1590), when it served as the family temple of the Yamaguchi Family, who were based in Maruyama Fortress.

     As the fortress is said to have been built during the Warring States Period by Yamaguchi Gorozaemon, the temple could have been founded after the mid 15th century.

     Around 1558, the Yamaguchi Family belonged to Araki Murashige (1535-1586), who was based in Arioka Castle.  In 1564, the family was defeated in a surprise attack by Matsubara Sadatsugu, the lord of Tanpopo Fortress.  Thereafter, the Matsubara Family controlled the fortress.  In 1578, the fortress is said to have fallen to the army of Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), who attacked Murashige.

     The temple was reduced to ashes with the demise of the Matsubara Family, but the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue, which escaped the disaster, survives to this day and is enshrined in the Kannon-do Hall built on the site of Kinsen-ji Temple.

     There used to be a time when nuns lived by the hall, which is now taken care of by neighboring people.  The current hall, made of reinforced concrete, was built in March, 1973.

Address: 3 Chome-4 Yamaguchicho Kinsenji, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 651-1422

Maruyama Fortress Site

Address: 1078 Yamaguchicho Shimoyamaguchi, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 651-1412